The English language has lots of words that are used in two or
three different ways. For example, the word "cabinet" can mean
"storage space in your kitchen" or "a group of folks who advise the
president." Beer is a word with two meanings. It can mean an
alcoholic beverage made from cereal grains, or a non-alcoholic
beverage flavored by root extracts. Root beer, birch beer and
ginger beer are three common forms of this non-alcoholic sort of
beer.
In the case of root beer, the flavoring comes from the root of the
sassafras tree or the sarsaparilla vine. Originally, the root was
brewed like a tea to make an extract, but now it is much easier to
buy the extract ready-made.
The root beer extract is mixed with sugar, yeast and water. If this
mixture is placed in a tightly sealed bottle, the yeast will
generate carbon dioxide at a high enough pressure to carbonate the
water. You end up with fizzy, delicious root beer!
